14 DAY TRIAL // There are quite a number of different types of computers on the market, each targeted at a certain segment of the consumer base, depending on their pricing, availability and, of course, performance and feature set. Desktops and laptops are, naturally, the more widespread of them all. There, are, however, variations of such systems that may or may not be especially widespread. Netbooks are of the very widespread type, since they became quite popular last year. On the other end of the so-called axis, one could say, lie Barebone PCs. Jetway has just unleashed one such device, dubbed Mini-TOP HBJC600C99-52W.
The product has a configuration centered around the Intel Atom D525 central processing unit. This CPU is a dual-core components with a clock speed of 1.8 GHz. In fact, it is a quite recently-released chip and one that has managed to rekindle, at least somewhat, end-user interest in the entry-level market. This chip cannot do anything on its own, of course.
The Barebone is outfitted with the possibility of adding up to 4GB of DDR2 memory, which should be more than enough for the two cores. What's more, SATA 3.0 Gbps is supported, as is Gigabit Ethernet connectivity and 802.11 b/g/n WiFi. What's more, the system boasts a 3-in-1 card reader. Nevertheless, the most relevant piece of hardware housed inside this PC is arguably the NVIDIA ION 2 graphics solution. Also known by the name of NVIDIA GT218 GPU, based on the 40nm manufacturing process technology, this unit provides multimedia playback capabilities and can be best taken advantage of through the DVI and HDMI display outputs.
The Jetway Mini-TOP HBJC600C99-52W will likely be directly faced with such devices as the Zotac Zbox HD-ID11, also based on Pine Trail and ION 2. The newcomer has already shown up as available for order on Newegg, priced at roughly $270.